Unremembered and Afar
by BatPhace
Summary: Jareth and Sarah ten years down the road. What happens when Jareth's wicked nature gets in the way. M for language and some content.
1. What Logic Lies Here

This is my first attempt at fan fic, so be gentle in reviewing please but PLEASE do review and let me know if I should quit or keep going. Rated M for safety in later additions. Thank you!

DISCLAIMER: Standard, I do not own any of the characters from Labyrinth, although a girl can dream, right?

Unremembered and afar, I watched you as I watched a star. Through darkness struggling into view I loved you better than you knew -Unknown

Warmth. All she felt was warmth, soothing calming, and infinitely more desirable than the conscious world. Then there was a voice, his voice, calling to her, "Sarah, come back to me Sarah…" Longing, intense longing, something she could never admit to except for here. Then something else…buzzing? Oh crap.

Sarah shot her arm out from under the covers and slammed the snooze button on her alarm clock. 'Never fails' she thought as she lie in welcomed silence trying to steady her erratic heartbeat. She tried to make sense of the dream, struggled to remember all the details that constantly eluded her. 'I'm still so warm,' she thought to herself. Then the logical side of her brain spoke up, 'You're under the covers still, stupid.' She hated that side of her. She had to become a very logical person in the ten years since her adventure in the Labyrinth to avoid being hailed as a lunatic, soon it had taken over and she chalked the whole ordeal up as a figment of an over active imagination. Lately, though, she kept having the same dream about it. It started as just the Labyrinth itself, then later there was that voice, HIS voice. Jareth. The Goblin King. She attributed it to being so traumatized my his abduction of Toby so many years ago, but what her subconscious knew and her logic wouldn't let her admit was that she had been wildly attracted to him then and flattered by his passion for her. He was evil though. He couldn't ever TRULY love her. Not that she cared anyway, right? Right. 'No matter' she thought, 'it never really happened anyway.' She shook her head to straighten her thoughts and climbed out of bed to get ready for work.

OOooOO

He sat in his throne room listening and watching his subjects banter with little interest. He was miserable, and everyone knew it. It first he had been furious that this, a young mortal girl had bested him, rejected him and thoroughly deflated his ego. As years past, however, his anger turned to want, then need, despair then finally desperation. She was the only mortal who had ever been any sort of match for his powers and treachery. He watched her through his crystals day in and day out, only handling the absolute necessities of his kingdom. 'You were meant for so much more than this horridly mundane life,' Jareth thought, ' Oh Sarah, if only you'd stayed.' Lately he'd tried calling to her in her dreams, but she had become so damn logical, she couldn't bear to consider it more than just an over active inner psyche. He smiled and watched her doing her work, delicate fingers sorting through papers and taking notes. How he imagined how those fingers would feel on his skin. 'Yes,' he thought, 'I'll just have to be more direct with her. Tonight I will make myself heard.' With that in mind, Jareth rose and strode swiftly through the halls of his castle to his chamber. He had to rest for the magic he was going to attempt tonight.

OOooOO

Sarah walked in the door of her loft apartment, dropped her purse on the cool wooded floor and striped on the way to her shower. "What a day!" she told her fish, Ludo, as she took off her earrings, "Nine and a half hours of digging around in that nasty dusty basement looking for archived records that don't even EXIST anymore, UGH!" The fish only blubbed in response, "You're such a good listener," she chuckled and stepped into her bathroom and started her shower. She let the hot water wash all her dirty cares away and her mind drifted back to the dreams she kept having. She got shivers just thinking about Jareth's voice.

"Sarah," a whisper came from somewhere. Yeah that voice, smooth, sensual…wait just a minute. Her eyes shot open. Did she actually hear that? No, couldn't be. She closed her eyes again, trying not to think about it. Suddenly his faced flashed through her mind like a strobe; all blond hair and high cheekbones and beautiful mouth.

"Sarah, don't fight me…" She gasped and almost fell. She turned the water off and climbed out and dried off, trying to shake the feeling that she was being watched. I'm losing it, Ludo, and fast," she said out loud. I need a good night sleep. A thought of the pills she kept in her bathroom came to mind; prescription sleep aids. Though she hadn't taken them in months (she didn't like pills) she went to the bathroom and poured two out of the little orange bottle. She looked in the mirror and for about half a second she could've sworn her eyes were mismatched, like his. She blinked and it was gone. 'Get a grip woman,' she thought to herself as she swallowed the pills with a hard gulp. She crawled into bed and waited until she couldn't keep her eyes opern anymore.

OOooOO

'That's it, Sarah,' Jareth thought, 'Bend to my will.' He didn't want to control her directly, that would make things come out all wrong, just push her in the direction he wanted her to go. Besides, the words she had spoken at the end of the Labyrinth were true, he really had no power over her, only the ability to suggest intoher dreams and subconcious. He really wasn't trying to drive her mad, only into the dreamworld where he could speak with her without having her panic and could control the environment enough to sway her. The pills would aid him by making sure she slept long and hard with little chance of her waking in the middle of his visit. 'Desperate men call for desperate measures,' he thought as he watched her lying in her bed forcing her eyes open until the very lastminute. Showtime.

OOooOO

Sarah knew where she was immediately, the ballroom. The room was exactly the same; she was wearing the same dress. She began to dance, even though there was no music, she danced, imagining him there with her. That was his cue.

"You're more beautiful than you were then, you know," she knew that voice, and she spun the direction the voice was coming from. There, lounging across the very same chair, in the very same outfit, with that very same smug look smeared across his face, was Jareth. Her jaw dropped. She couldn't believe it. After all the dreams she'd thought of him in, NOW he came to her? No matter, it was only a dream, she could just make him disappear. But did she really want to?

"Why are you here? What do you wa-" she started to protest but he interrupted.

"Shhh…" He put a finger to his lips, "Not a word. I want you to listen to your un-logical self for once, give me a chance." He rose and sauntered toward her. She went to move, to back away, anything to put space between them, but she couldn't. She was frozen. What was worse was now she couldn't even speak. 'What the hell is going on' she thought, 'this is MY dream, why does his magic work here?' Jareth circled her once then came to stand behind her.

"I've been watching you Sarah, and I know you're not happy in your life," he whispered into her ear, "You place too much emphasis on logic, and logic tells you that I, the Labyrinth, and all your friends there never existed. I'm here to convince you otherwise."

OOooOO

Well? What do you think so far? Please review, good or not, I just need reinforcement of some sort.


	2. Out the Window

Thank you to all who have reviewed! KEEP 'EM COMMING! I'm a little foggy on where all of this is going, I'm sure I'll figure it out w/in the next chapter though ;). Any suggestions?

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue!

ooOOoo

Jareth turned her around to face him. He looked and saw in her eyes there was little left of the fiery, imaginative young girl he had met so long ago. The spark of youth had been replaced by dull adult worries and woes. Suddenly, he didn't care about his needs anymore. All he wanted was for Sarah to have her passion for life back, with or without him in it. He dropped his hold on her dream-self and stepped back, aghast at his sudden attack of empathy.

"Thank you," she said meekly. 'He really is here, isn't he. But how, it wasn't real!' she thought to herself. Her boldness came back, "Now answer me, what do you want." Jareth sighed.

"I want for you to have your dreams, just as I've always wanted," he said softly, "I've been watching you, as I said before, and I can tell that you need more from your life. You're missing something very important...imagination." His words rang true in her, but she wasn't about to let him know it. He went on,"Your life has become the very definition of ordinary, but you were meant to be somrthing extraordinary, Sarah. How else would a Goblin King have fallen in love with you?" Sarah blushed a little at his words. She had forgotten just how he had begged her to stay with him. What had he said? 'Fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave'. It gave her chills.' Snap out of it woman!' she chided herself.

"What trickery are you up to Jareth, I want the truth and I want it now!" Her tone was demanding, her posture was positively hostile, but behind her eyes she longed for him to sweep her away to the Underground and relight the fire in her. He only saw a glimmer of that longing, but in that glimmer he saw hope.

"Tomorrow night I want you to call to me. Fight your logic and call to me. I will come to you and we will go if you want, even for just an hour, back to the Labyrinth and you can see once again the wonders that are hidden in it," He saw a shadow of doubt cross her face, "As my guest this time, not my enemy. You have my word as the Goblin King, no tricks, no games." He raised one sharp eyebrow waiting for response.

"Fine, I suppose it couldn't hurt," she thought for a moment, "Yes, tomorrow night then." 'If it doesn't work, I'll know I was right all along,' she thought. Jareth bowed slightly and disappeared, leaving Sarah to dance her dream away. He watched her through his crystal aching to be there dancing with her. 'In time, perhaps,' he thought, 'give her time.'

ooOOoo

Sarah woke that morning drenched in sweat and with a terrible headache. 'Now I remember why I don't take those pills anymore,' she thought, 'why did I take them anyway?' She struggled to remember, then the dream came flooding back to her, nearly stealing her breath away. Had she actually come face to face with HIM? An even better question; was she actually going to call to him that night? Doing so would go against every logical cell in her body. Her greatly over-excited and sexually neglected body. 'Stop that!' she scolded herself, 'He's just a figure of your imagination, a sexy, sensuous, beautiful... OOOOOHH DAMMIT!'.

She threw the covers off and ran to the bathroom where she dunked her head into a sink of cold water. Why was she so affected by this man, and why couldn't she admit to herself he was real, and that what happened to her ten years ago was real? Sufficiently calmed, she threw on her terrycloth robe and strode to her kitchen/dining room to make herself a cup of tea. She glanced at the clock on the microwave asshe nuked the water; 11:07! She was supposed to be at work at 8:00. Oh well, she needed a day off anyway and she had a LOT of soul searching to do. She called in to her office, faking a stuffy nose and cough (must've been from all the dust in the basement yesterday, achoo!) and settled on her couch with her tea to ponder the meaning of her life and what it had become. 'Was he right? Is my life so ordinary? Do I feel incomplete? Am I missing something?' and so on until she couldn't feel her brain anymore and she decided to throw on some clothes and go for a walk.

ooOOoo

The whole kingdom was in an uproar over her return, a whirlwind with their king at the eye of the storm barking orders and making demands. All the duties that had been neglected were now hastily being overdone. When Jareth was satisfied that everyone knew where their duty was and they had enough to keep them busy for a while he retired to his chamber to take a breather. He looked out around his kingdom from his private balcony and sighed. 'What do I hope to accomplish by bringing her back here? What if she repressed all those memories for a reason?' he wondered. His cynical side answered, 'You're being selfish, as usual. You think that by sweeping her into the magical Underground she'll fall for you now like she should have ten years ago.'

He grimaced. No, maybe that had been his original intention, but now his reasons were genuinely for her own good. He could see her future, and it looked truely bleak. She would end up in a dead end job, never truely happy with her life and what it brought her, and on her death bed she would sing her shoulda-coulda-woulda's about the Underground to her children. He couldn't let that become her reality, he had to intercede. The only question left was would she actually put aside all her logic and reason and call to him.Of this he was uncertain. So all he could do was keep himself busy overseeing the badly needed maintainence of the Labyrinth that he had ignored for far too long.

ooOOoo

She sat in silence on the edge of her bed in the corner of her loft. If she called to him, and he actually came, was she prepaired to throw the logical shell she'd built up over the years out the window? After a lot of inner reflection she had discovered that she did feel an emptiness, an unfulfilled ache for something more. Even if he didn't come, she could alwaysmove on, right? With that in mind, she stood and opened her window. A breeze blew in, billowing her delicate curtains around her. 'Here goes nothing,' she thought. She took a deep breath, let it out slowly and focused.

"Jareth..." she whispered, barely audible even to her. Nothing but the breeze answered her, and with a mix of anger and fear she yelled, "JARETH... PLEASE...!" Suddenly a gust of warm air burst in through the window. In straight over her head flew a snow white barn owl. Sarah ducked for fear that the creature would hurt her, but when she stood and turned around there he was. Standing in the middle of her apartment in all whitewas the man she had convinced herself for so long didn't exist save for in her mind. She was stunned, to say the least. "You're reallyhere," she whispered. 'Yep, everything I ever thought goes out the window,' she thought to herself.

"In the flesh," Jareth replied, hiding so many promises and insinuations in those three little words. "Are you ready, Sarah?" he asked with a smirk as heheld out a hand to her.

"No, butI need this, so I suppose I'm as ready as I'll ever be,"she had convinced herself of this about one point five seconds before the question came. She took his hand and he pulled her into his arms surrounding her with his cape. She caught her breath, and in that breath she smelled nothing but magic. The warmth she felt in her dream two nights ago saturated her. She tried not to blush, but she had thought of herself here so many times it was impossible not to. She tried to put even an inch between them, but he just pulled her closer.

"Hang on to me, and do not take your eyes off mine, no matter what you see," He said this so seriously that all thoughts she'd had about letting go vanished from her mind.She felt his eyes burning into her, felt they could see into her very soul,but she dared not look away. Theneverything around them became blurry, wind whipped around her, but she focused on him. She felt woozy, then everything went black and the last thing she felt washis arms around her and her face cradled on his chest.

BTW, I promise to make good on my M rating next chapter ;-)


	3. Hidden Things

Thanx EVERYONE for all the great reviews! You're fueling my creative fire. :o) I promised to make good on my M rating this chap, that's why it's so long, longest yet for that matter. this ought to satisfy all those dirty minds for now, and if not I plan on incorporating more later ;-). Enjoy!

Solea: ask and ye shall recieve >:-)!

DISCLAIMER: Same ol' same ol'. Don't own 'em , not for profit and so on.

OOooOO

"Sarah? Sarah are you ok?" The voice was familiar, but not the one she was expecting. She slowly opened her eyes, and to her amazement it wasn't Jareth at her side but Hoggle!

"Hoggle?" she asked, trying to sit up, "Where's Jareth?" Oh how her head hurt.

"Well that's a fine way to greet a friend you forgot, hmpf." he said, obviously hurt.

"Oh Hoggle, I'm sooo sorry!" she was ashamed of herself. She threw her arms around her friend, "I did forget you, didn't I? It's very good to see you old friend. I just wasn't expecting you, that's all, forgive me?"

"Oh all right," Hoggle said impatiently, "just let go of me." Sarah respected his wishes and stood up looking around. They were inside the Labyrinth, somewhere near the castle.

"That bastard," Sarah yelled as she realized that Jareth was nowhere to be seen, "He just dropped me here to fend for myself didn't he? OOOHH, I should have KNOWN!"

"Calm down," Hoggle said sternly, "his Majesty has some important business to attend to immediately upon returning. He told me to stay with you and show you around and he would join you as soon as he could, so just simmer down."

"Oh, I see," Sarah couldn't believe she'd jumped to conclusions like that, she felt so silly, "well then I will enjoy my time catching up with you. Where are Ludo and Sir Didymus?"

"Oh they're around somewhere," Hoggle replied. They started walking and he told her about the frenzy the kingdom had been in before her arrival. He explained about the king's state of mind since she defeated him, how depressed and lonely he had been. "At first he was mad, then he got sad, then he stopped caring altogether, seemed like," Hoggle sighed, "I knows I didn't hear new orders for months at a time, not even any threats about the Bog. So I just went about my usual 'till I hears something. Then one night turns out Sarah's comming back and the whole place turns upside down. Hmpf, now he cares." Sarah looked around and smiled.

"Well I think you all did a wonderful job in so little time. Why, the place is practically spotless!" Hoggle blushed a little.

They continued on, making quiet conversation as they walked. She marveled at the wonders around her, having forgotten most of it,but the whole time Sarah just kept thinking about what Hoggle had told her. Had she really affected Jareth that much? Her, Sarah Williams, had driven the great Goblin King into depression? It seemed a bit far fetched to her, but Hoggle wouldn't lie to her. If that was the case then she wondered what his REAL reasons for bringing her back were.

OOooOO

Jareth sat in his darkened bed chamber watching the whole scene through a crystal. He'd had important business, that part was true. That was done with, so why couldn't he go back to her? 'You're certainly not being a very gracious host,' he thought. The truth was he was afraid of her now that she was here. No mortal (hell, no anybody) had ever held such sway over his emotions.

'You're turning puss,' there was his cynical side again, 'Jareth the Great Goblin King is afraid of what a mere mortal woman could reduce him to. You should take her, viciously defile her, make her yours! Lock her away in an oubliet forever, at least she would stay.'

'No,' he shook his head trying to regain control of his thoughts, 'If she's going to come to me, it must be of her own free will, not mine. If she stays she must decide so herself. I will not hold her prisoner like a beaten bird in a cage. She must love me for herself or not at all.'

'She'll never love you, stupid. She'll use you to better her own life and she'll leave again. You'll be left alone with yourself and your horrid little subjects and your horrid little kingdom forever.' This thought brought tears to his eyes.

Was he so unworthy? True, he had done unspeakable things in his long, long life. His duty of taking unwanted children was a deplorable one. If she did stay, she would have to understand that there was nothing he could do about this part of his life. He was the Goblin King afterall. But she was his light in a dark place, even from afar. If she could love him his life would hold infinately more joy than it did now.

'You're getting ahead of yourself, Jareth. You don't even know if she cares whether or not you live or die. You did steal her baby brother away. Or had you forgotten that little detail of your twisted relationship, if you could call it that.' He watched her through the crystal, hesitating to reach into her mind for fear of what he'd find there. He shattered the crystal against the wall and sat in silence, battling his own demons.

OOooOO

After what seemed like hours of walking they finally ended up back at the castle. In all her wonder she had forgotten that she hadn't eaten breakfast and now her stomach was letting her know.

"Hoggle, is there some way to get something to eat?" she asked timidly.

"Oh, of course," he said, "How silly of me. After you left his Majesty gave me, Ludo and Sir Didimus free reign over the castle, a way to stay close to you I suppose. I prefer to stay in my hutch, but occasionally when I feel high and mighty I come and order the cook to make me food."

After a quick lunch Sarah decided to search for Jareth, so she bid Hoggle farewell and set out to find her host. She checked room after room, each one more grand than the next. The next door she opened nearly took her breath away; she had to go in. The room was so ornately decorated, stunning tapestries, beautiful sashes and the most beautiful bed she had EVER seen. Big and luxurious. She blushed firey red as images of passionate nights with Jareth on that very bed flashed through her mind. "Stop that Sarah, you're going to get yourself into trouble," she scolded herself.

"I think you're already in trouble," a sultry voice whispered into her ear. She turned and nearly jumped out of her skin as Jareth was standing painfully close behind her. She hadn't even heard him approach. He hadn't intended her to.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know you w-were here," she stammered. His eyes burned into her, but his expression softened a little at her nervousness.

"Would you like a bath?" he asked, moving away for his own sake as well as hers; the scent of her was enough to drive him mad. He looked her up and down, "You may borrow one of my robes, if you wish, until proper clothes can be found," For the first time Sarah realized that she was still in the pajammas she was wearing for bed when she called to him. She would be grateful to get a bath, even if she did have to resort to wearing his clothes for a while afterword.

"Yes, actually, I would," she said, looking away from him, "If it's not too much trouble."

"Nonsense," Jareth rang a bell and within seconds a little servant goblin pattered into the room. "Draw a bath for my guest, use my oils. And have a fresh robe brought up for when she gets out." The little goblin nodded obediently and scurried into the royal bathroom."I shall leave you to it then." He turned on his heels and left the room. He thought he'd heard her start to say something, but he didn't stop to listen. One more moment in the room with her would have gotten HIM into trouble.

OOooOo

It felt like hours of heaven. As sarah relaxed in the warm water it was all she could do not to think about him. She caught herself wondering about that beautiful mouth, and those hands. The scent of the oils reminded her of him. 'That's enough of that,' she thought to herself, 'time to get out.' There was a tightly coiled need growing inside her, and she feared it was going to get the best of her before too long. She found the robe that was left for her and she left the bathroom feeling almost like a new woman.

"Do you feel better?" His voice came from the doorway and she turned to find him leaning against it with that ever superior smirk on his face. There was something more in his eyes though, as if he knew her thoughts from moments ago (and it was quite possible that he did). He started toward her.

"Yes, much... thank you," she said quietly, "Actually I was going to come looking for you in a moment." 'Oh god if he gets much closer...' she thought desperately.

"And imagine that, you've found me," he replied. His voice made her very core quiver. It was low and smooth and reminded her of warm congiac. The fierceness in his movements had her backing up and up until the edge of the bed buckled her knees and she was forced to sit. He stopped less than inches from her. 'He still smells like rain,' she thought absently.

She stared up at him, eyes wide, heart pounding with anticipation. Part of her wanted to run for fear she had angered him in some way, fear that he had some wicked fate worse than death planned for her. The rest of her knew otherwise. It was not anger in his eyes but profound, long restrained desire.

"What are you-" she started to protest but he silenced her with one finger to her lips and he set her on fire with that simple touch. He opened her legs a little with his own and stepped one leg slightly in between them, keeping her eyes locked on his the whole time. It was a simple enough gesture, but she still held her breath from it.

"I know you want me, Sarah," he said in a soft yet matter-of-fact tone, "you've always wanted me, you were just too young at first to understand," she nodded slightly knowing the truth in his words, "I've watched you in your bed at night," he bent down so close to her ear that she got shivers from his breath on her skin, "I've watched you, and heard my name spill from your lips as you touch yourself," she began to tremble as his lips ghosted aganist her skin. He moved to her other ear, "You could feel me there with you, couldn't you?" she let out a small moan, "I know you could because I wanted you to feel me. You wanted me there so badly, didn't you?."

Sarah closed her eyes as he trailed his finger from her lips, up her jaw then took her face in his hand. The look on her face at that moment, completely vulnerable, entirely helpless to his touch, was almost enough to bring him to tears. It touched him more than any other lover he'd ever had. He kissed her cheeks, her forehead, her eyelids, then roughly took her mouth. Her lips were warm and inviting as their kiss softened, slowed. He couldn't let his passion overtake him or it would be over before it began. Their kiss turned into a dance as she opened her velvet mouth slightly letting their tongues touch. She pulled away at the electricity she felt at this, it hit her like a punch in her face.

"Sarah," he purred her name relishing the taste of her mouth. He could feel doubts radiating from her and one look into her eyes confirmed his feeling. As hard as it was he backed off and took her face in his hands once again.

"Jareth...I..." she looked away.

"I see," he said with dismay, dropping his hands and turning away, "I'll go then," He started to leave.

"Jareth, wait," she called to him but he kept walking until he disappeared around the corner. She could hear the clicking of his boots on the tile floor moving farther and farther away. Little did they know but the tears began rolling down their cheeks at the exact same moment.

OOooOO

Hours later, Sarah wasn't sad anymore, she was pissed. Who did he think he was anyway? Showing up out of nowhere ten years later, sweeping her away to "change her outlook on life"? If he'd been watching so much why didn't he come sooner? Why now? Of course she wanted him but really, how could he expect her to just give in to him like that. The NERVE! She paced the floor heatedly letting her anger build. 'That's it, I'm going to find him and give him a piece of my mind,' she thought. She searched room after room until she found him in a darkened chamber smaller than his own. All she could see was his feet sticking out of the shadows surrounding the bed, but she would recognize those boots anywhere.

"I want to talk to you," she walked defiantly toward him, knowing full well she should have waited to be invited into the room, "No I want to yell at you. How dare you. You didn't really bring me here for my own good, did you?" She stood at the end of the bed, hands boldly fisted and cemented to her hips, "You brought me here to serve your own needs and then you were going to do away with me, weren't you?"

"Yes, I suppose my intentions weren't so noble as I alleged after all," he said it so quietly she could barely hear over her own raging heart beat. There was a long silence in which Sarah waited for something else to come from him; sarcasm, an explaination, a retort, some rude belittling comment; there was none.

"Well? Aren't you going to fight with me?" she was impatient, like a child throwing a tantrum over nothing.

"Why? Hmm?"he sat forward so she could see his face in the dim light from the hall. There were stains of dried tears on his cheeks, but the intensity in his eyes chilled her to the bone. She didn't back down. She crawled onto the bed and straddled him (suddenly realizing that she was still only wearing the robe). Jareth arched an eyebrow at her audacity and she could have sworn she almost saw a smirk dancing on one corner of his mouth; he wanted to laugh at her! She was enraged at him and he wanted to laugh at her! She would show him. She captured his mouth with hers in a heated kiss. Frenzied she threw her arms around him and crushed him to her. He was slightly shocked but more amused at her actions. 'There's the feisty girl I knew' he thought to himself, delighted that she had finally returned. He matched the passion of her kiss ten fold. As it reached fever pitch she ripped her mouth away. She stared into his eyes searching for some sign of alarm at her actions, she wanted a reaction. Finding none, she decided to take it up a notch. She took his hand and starting at her knee, slowly traced his fingertips up her thigh and under the fabric of her robe where she let them brush her most sensitive self.

The move backfired in her face and the feel of his fingertips there only served to amplify her own desires. She hoped he wouldn't catch it, but he did. He caught the shadow of it in her eyes. He bit back a grin when she didn't move his hand away, then his fingers started moving from his will instead of hers and she was completely outdone. She was ashamed of herself, but at this moment she couldn't have cared less. Her mouth went slightly slack and a tiny moan escaped as he moved his fingers. She leaned down to kiss him and he turned the tables throwing her off kilter and under him. Her gasp was stolen by his mouth as it assaulted her own. He moved back suddenly and looked at her for a moment.

"I'll take my room back now, thank you," he said with a sly smirk as he rose from the bed and walked toward the door, leaving Sarah flabbergasted. 'THAT SONOFABITCH!'

OOooOO


	4. Decisions Decisions

ALLO AGAIN! sorry I left everyone hanging last chap, it was the only stop I could find w/out going on another thousand words. As always, thank you MUCHO to all that review. This is getting weird but I promise there wiil be twistedness eventually, although my updates may become fewer and farther between since I'm in a class that seems to suck the life out of me right now, but I will do what I can when I can. Stay with me PLEASE!

Disclaimer: I'm getting tired of writing these so if you want to know read the first three chapters!

ooOOoo

He stopped just outside the door and down the hall a few steps from her room to calm his violent heartbeat. How he wanted to let her ravage him, or vise-versa. He wouldn't mind that either. He heard her yell, then begin to cry, and it broke his cold little heart. 'This is for her own good, for now,' he justified to himself, 'I must bring her back slowly, she will understand eventually.' He chewed on his thoughts as he walked quickly to his chamber. 'You better hope she's understanding if you want to fix this little quandry thats hovering over your head like an anvil.' He locked the door of his chamber, stripped and sprawled out on his bed.

"Who exactly are you trying to convince, hmm?" he asked his reflection as he stared into he mirror above his bed.

ooOOoo

The next day not a word was spoken between them. They ate breakfast and lunch in silence and Sarah avoided Jareth when at all possible in between, which in a big castle such as his was not difficult. He could have found her, but she didn't want to be found for the moment, so he left her alone. She felt like a fool. Her pride was hurt, but not as much as her heart.

She decided to take a walk through part of the Labyrinth she'd never seen to try and ease her thoughts but she could not relax. She kept thinking about the previous night, then she'd start crying, then she'd console herself that it was NOT her fault and she would try to tune everything out. She would concentrate on the sights and scents around her, and they would remind her of Jareth and the way he smelled and so the cycle would start all over again. How could she have been so stupid! She rounded a corner not long into her walk and found Hoggle and they talked for a while. She told him what had happened the night before (not EVERYTHING of course).

"Me thinks there might be some other reason behind it. He was so sad and lonely when you left, why would he treat you like this now that you're here?" Hoggle surprised himself with how reasonable he sounded.

"I just can't believe what a fool I've been," she said on the verge of tears once again. Hoggle consoled as best he could. Jareth couldn't bear to watch this wallowing any longer.

"Why are you so distraught?" he asked suddenly appearing and making her and Hoggle both jump in surprise. After she swallowed her heart down out of her throat she glared at him wondering at his audacity.

"You have to ask?" she retorted, noticing only briefly that he was looking particularly sexy today. 'FOCUS' she scolded.

"I thinks I should go," Hoggle excused himself and ran away to get out of the line of fire.

"Yes, actually," he said folding his arms patiently. Sarah's mouth dropped with disbelief at his utter lack of couth. She began pacing waving her arms erratically. If Jareth hadn't known any better he would have mistaken her for a lunatic.

"DUH, you tricked me! I revealed part of my most vulnerable self to you and you threw it in my face and left me hanging. You're dispicable, you know that! And another thing, you...you...why do you look like you're sorry?" She stopped.

"Because I am," he said it so simply that all the anger she felt for him vanished, "I am sorry if I hurt you, I hadn't intended to." He now started pacing, "You couldn't possibly think that I actually wanted to leave, no red blooded man would with the way you were behaving. You didn't once in all your anger stop to think that maybe I had reasons for leaving you the way I did?" Sarah thought for a second.

"No, actually, I didn't." She said quietly, shamed once again by her bad habit of jumping to conclusions, "I thought you were just being your normal asinine self. I thought it was all just some elaborate trick." He looked wounded at her words, and now she really knew what it was to feel low; it wasn't pleasant.

"Oh Sarah, would I go to all this trouble if I just wanted to trick you? Other mortals, perhaps, but I do not take pleasure from hurting the ones I care about," she looked into his eyes and saw true sincereity and it almost made her cry agian, "Now would have been a good time to use that overdeveloped logic of yours," he chided her gently as he brushed the back of one hand down her cheek, "You're just not ready for me yet, that's all." She raised one eyebrow in challenge.

"Excuse me?" 'There it is,' she thought, 'there's that arrogant -'

"You see, you must be in love with me before I will make love to you. I will not settle for... how do you Abovegrounders say it... oh yes, I will not settle for screwing you, Sarah." Once again her mouth went slack both in shock of the wording he used and the realization of what he was saying. "I've gotten you to admit to yourself that I'm even real, and that you indeed want me, now I will make you love me, as it should have been ten years ago." He ended the sentance with a classic smirk for punctuation.

"Oh no no no, I ... I can't. I... I...why? Why me, Jareth, and why now after all these years? I have so many questions, and you won't give me any answers," Her frustration with him was reaching record heights.

"It's very complicated," he dropped his eyes for a moment as if debating something inside himself, then he sighed and looked back up at her, "I want to show you something."

He took her hand and they walked through parts of the Labyrinth that she hadn't ever seen. She knew she hadn't seen it all the first time she was here, but the very walls of it seemed to move out of Jareth's way then reform behind them.They ended up in the most beautiful garden she'd ever seen. Enormous rows of flowers that resembled the ones from Aboveground, but they were so different at the same time. The smell as they entered took her breath away as she turned to take it all in. As she turned she realized that the way they had come was now blocked off, as though no entrance had ever existed there.

"Wasn't there just a...oh who cares," her voice was so breathy even she almost didn't recognize it. She hurried up one row and down another examining the blossoms that she saw. Stunning colors unlike any she'd ever seen surrounded her. Jareth just stood and watched the delight dance across her face. In that moment he saw the girl he first fell in love with dancing among his most precious treasures.

"This place is the most secret part of the Labyrinth, none but I and those I desire may enter it. It is hallowed and safe, the heart of it, and the heart of me," he explained.

"It's so beautiful, no that's not the right word," she thought for a moment as she looked around drinking it all in, "I'm not sure there is a right word to describe this place. It's like a painting, only better...but not at all and, it's perfect."

"Listen to me, Sarah," his tone was firm now and it startled her a little, "this place was all but dead a few days ago," he looked around, taking a blossom in his hand to smell it, "Mortals don't understand the true magic they hold inside them. Yours is particularly strong. You wanted to know why I brought you back here, this is why. You set something in motion ten years ago that has changed myself and the Labytinth," he stared deeply into her eyes, "You breathed new life into it. Your magic saved this place in a way I could not." That fact seemed to bother him a little, but not enough for her to keep a civil tone.

"So I saved it, so I have some sort of power here, that doesn't explain anything, like whymy life can't just be the same and whyI have to fall in love with you," she crossed her arms stubbornly. His patience was wearing thin, even with her.

"You have to fall in love with me so you'll stay because if you ever leave again this whole place, the Labyrinth, the Goblin Kingdom, everything will wither, crumble and fade! It's all from you Sarah, and if you disappear so will it."

"But it can't...how?" her head was spinning, it was all so much for her still so logical mind to hold onto. So she did the only thing she could do. She ran as far and as fast as she could and Jareth opened walls to let her go.

ooOOoo

Some time later Sarah was sitting on a rock lost in her thoughts trying to absorb what Jareth had told her. She couldn't stay here forever. What about her family? Toby in particular. He needed her. He was only eleven and his parents were pushing him so hard into everything he didn't want. They were harder on him because of her, she knew that, but they were going to ruin him if they weren't careful. He needed someone there to stick up for him, to be on his side. Unless...

ooOOoo

"Are you completely mad!" Jareth threw the question out as a hypothetical one; he already knew the answer. "Number one, he is a child so he must be wished away. Number two, even if I get him here he must become a goblin because he is a child that was wished away," he took a deep exasperated breath, "Number three, even if we get past one and two somehow, I am the only remotely humanoid creature in this place. He would never lead a full life and never find love. He would be happy for a time, yes, but would he ever be truely happy with this? Would you do that to your own brother?"

"Then I cannot stay here, I cannot leave him to fend for himself," He saw the tears comming to her eyes, damn his callousness but he'd spoken the truth.

He wrapped his arms around her and leaned down and kissed her deeply, not needy like before. Just a kiss, nothing more. She stared into his eyes and things around them became blurry once again, but this time there was no woozieness, no blackout. 'Must've been the distance' she thought absently as she looked around. They were in the royal chamber; Jareth was changed into nothing but what resembled baggy PJ pants that rode low on his slender hips and made her mouth water. Quite an attractive switch from his usual breeches.He pulled the blankets back on the oversized bed.

"I thought we couldn't..." she prayed he wouldn't make her finish that sentance for fear of making her blood boil.

"We can't, but that doesn't mean we cannot just lay together," he looked down, shamed at how compassionate he sounded, "I want to comfort you."

She couldn't belive what she was hearing. Could this tender man before her bethe same Jareth she'd always known? Maybe she really had effected him. She crawled into the bed and they lay together stroking each others fingers, feeling and absorbing the energy the other put out. Sarah felt at ease with his warmth at her back. She was suddenly aware of his hand moving ever so slowly down her side, moving back up a little then continuing down until it got to her hip.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked unassumingly.

"Hmm?" 'Like he didn't hear me the first time' she thought to heself rolling her eyes.

"I said what do you think you're doing?" she repeated.

"Iwant to pleasure you, not fully, just a little to take your mind off things," his words melted away her best argurment and she stiffled a small gasp when his fingertips slid benieth the fabric of the long shirt she was wearing and moved back up the inside of her thigh.

"I don't think...ahh," her protest was lost as his fingertips ghosted across her most sensitive flesh.

"That's right, don't think," he smiled against her ear. He moved her other thigh back just enough and she arched against him as he dipped one finger inside her. He toyed with her, relishing every moan and whimper that came from her. 'I could do this forever' they both thought it at the same time.

"Jareth, ooh, if you keep that up..." her words trailed off as his hand left it's delightfulminstrations. After a moment she was taken aback when she realized that said finger was now at his mouth. He was tasting her!

"Mmmm, I'd love to taste you more directly, perhaps some other time," he mused. The thought gave her chills, and that thought is the one she fell asleep to. Jareth lie in silence listening to her breath and feeling totally at peace. 'I do hope she comes around entirely,' he thought, 'it would be a shame for all this effort to go to waste.' He kissed her neck and fell asleep himself

ooOOoo


	5. Bad Things Could Happen

Hello all again! I would like to say once again that all my reviewers are the BEST! I'm a slave 2 you guys! Thank you soooooo much for all the encouragement, I really need it so KEEP IT COMMING!It'sgetting kinda dark so I need to know what youguys think. This popped out a little sooner than I thought it would, but here it isnone the less! Not so much smut as I'd hoped, next chapter should be chalk full of it though so stay tuned. Batty

Standard Disclaimer Applies

OOooOO

Jareth awoke with a start and in a cold sweat. He quaked as images from his nightmare still washed over him. Destruction, darkness, these were the things that he saw. His kingdom had fallen around him, the Labyrinth ripped to shreds and all the creatures within its walls were dead. He steadied his mind reminding himself that it had been only a dream. His castle was still standing, his kingdom safe for now. And yes, Sarah was still lying next to him. He lay back down and watched her sleep trying to shake the feeling of impending doom that consumed him now. He tried to focus on her face; slender cheekbones, cupid's bow lips, elegant eyes. 'She'll never love you, Jareth,' he thought sadly, 'She'll leave again, there is nothing you can do to keep her here no matter how you want her to stay.'

He rose and left the chamber with tears trickling down his face. He wiped at them indignantly but more fell to replace them so he gave up. It was still late in the night as Jareth paced through the Heart Garden and the only light was that shining down from the two moons overhead. What if his dream really was foreshadowing? If she didn't stay it was sure to come true. What then? What would become of him? He would fade away into nothing. No, not him. It was that thought that frightened him most of all, besides losing her, of course. That he, the impetuous irresistible Goblin King would just… wither away. He'd always pictured himself going out with a bang, not a whimper. Perhaps…just maybe he could go Aboveground and be with her? No one from the Underground had ever attempted such a feat. It was thought by his ancestors that one would die if one stayed Aboveground too long. But if she left and his kingdom crumbled then he may as well be dead anyway, so it was worth a shot, right?

'She won't want you there,' his cynical side butted in, 'you're her toy, nothing more. Something she can play with and then put away as she pleases.' He tried to shake it, but this thought plagued him. For safety he would wait until she brought the idea up, if she ever did. Maybe she couldn't love him, and if that were the case then only darkness lie ahead for him and his kingdom.

'Lock her away; keep her here no matter the cost. Take her, whether she loves you or not. No one could blame you for saving your kingdom.'

'No! I will give her time.'

'Time is something you're running out of and you know it.' His wicked thoughts were becoming more and more rational to him all the time and that scared him. This left him only one solution.

OOooOO

Sarah woke alone. She felt shaky, echoed feelings from the dreams she couldn't remember. She did remember a feeling of dread, and loss. She dressedandsearched the castle, nearly getting lost several times, but found no sign of Jareth anywhere. Finally she returned to the chamber to wait. Moments later he entered the room in grand fashion with a procession of servants behind him, all carrying platters.

"What's all this?" she asked in mild awe as the little goblins set up a table and chairs and aligned silverware.

"I cannot send you back on an empty stomach, it just wouldn't be right." He bade the goblins leave and sat down at the table. Sarah sat at her designated place across from him.

"Back? Back where?" She felt a sliver of panic pierce her gut.

"Back where you came from of course, what other back is there for you?" Sarah was floored. He said it so lightly as he poured her some sort of tea, he couldn't possibly be talking about sending her back Aboveground. Truly, the thought hadn't even entered her mind, save for the one time in the Heart Garden when she had thought about Toby. Jareth struggled to keep himself collected. He couldn't let her see how this was truly paining him.

"But I – I just got here, I don't want to go back… not yet at least. And besides you said if I ever leave again-" He cut her off.

"You cannot stay here and be miserable worrying about Toby, and he cannot come here. So you must go home." 'Excuses, excuses' he thought. His matter of fact tone was beginning to break.

"I won't let the Underground die! It means too much to me!" She was infuriated, "How can you do this, just send me away after bringing me back here for only a day! How could you after waking all these feelings inside me?" She stood suddenly sending the chair over backward. His eyes turned dark and his tone was suddenly stone cold. Her eyes grew wide as he stood slowly and walked toward her with all the intensity of a starved jungle cat. She whimpered as he backed her up against the wall.

"You think it doesn't mean just a much to me, if not more? I CREATED THE DAMN THING! " She recoiled, though there was only stone behind her, she would rather have been closer to the stone at that moment than him. He dropped his voice to a jagged growl, "Do you REALLY think I want to see my whole kingdom fall to pieces! Beg me, Sarah. Beg me to keep you here. Beg, plead, beseech, implore. There is a wicked part of me, Sarah, a side I have kept in check for as long as I can manage. This part of me wants to see you broken and cowering at my feet like the rest of my subjects simply because you bested me once." His breath on her face made her shiver with a mix of excitement and anxiety, mostly anxiety, "It is wretched to feel this way. This part of me believes you will never come to love me, and that I should TAKE you and MAKE you MINE! Is that what you want, Sarah? For me to brutally conquer you and break your very soul!" He was staring her down. His body was crushing her to the wall, so hard she almost couldn't breathe. His tone had her more frightened than his words. She had never seen such cruelty in those mismatched eyes, not even the first time she was here.

"No... no that's not how it should be," she managed to speak even though his force was like a silken scarf around her throat. He softened his voice considerably and let up on her body.

"No, it's not, so I must send you away before that part of me prevails and I hurt you beyond repair." He backed off, and sat again at the table, gesturing with his hand to the other chair, "Sit, eat."

She was still stunned. He would send her away and loose his kingdom forever to keep from hurting her. But sending her away would almost hurt her more. They ate in silence, Sarah biting back tears the whole time. It was all she could do to swallow her food around the lump in her throat.

The servants had come and dismantled the table and cleared the room and Jareth was about to leave when Sarah stopped him.

"What if I told you that I do love you," her voice was slow and hesitant and her eyes never came up off the floor. Jareth came to her and took her in his arms.

"I would say that you are a fool to believe that just to save this place." He held her close as she sobbed against him. He ran his fingers through her hair savoring the feel of her against him. He bit back his own tears now, but one managed to trickle down his cheek and land lightly on her forehead. She lifted her head and touched the wet with her finger. She looked between it and him in awe. He had let down his ever-unwavering guard. For the first time ever she could actually feel Jareth's affection for her beaming from him like sunlight on her face. 'The warmth' she thought, 'this is the warmth I felt in my dream.' She wiped the trail of the tear from his face with her fingers and took his face in her hands and pulled his mouth to hers. It was a gentle kiss, oh yes the want and passion were still there, but it was tightly restrained. She wanted only to convey her truest feelings; he already knew that she wanted him but he had to know that she cared.That this, him, the Labyrinth, was all that she wanted. She felt she had to make him understand with that one kiss everything that she had ever felt for him so she poured her whole soulinto it.

Sadly, he did feel and understand, but that didn't change things in his mind. She would still have to leave. He tore himself away and left her alone.

OOooOO

Sarah spent her last day in the Heart Garden soaking up all the sights and scents around her. This was the place she wanted to remember most. She tried desperately to memorize each flower, each beautifully colored petal so that she might never forget ever again. That she might one day explain to her children and her grandchildren about theplace where she felt her heart ripped from her chest. She felt as if she were on death row just hours away from the gas chamber. How could she go back after he had stripped away her logical armor? She couldn't bear to face the things that were waiting for her, the boredom, the monotony, and the mind numbing plainness of it all. At least not without him. Wait just a minute… not without him? . Could it be that simple? She justwouldn't go without him. She ran from the garden at full speed, the walls barely moving from her path in time.

OOooOO

Jareth sat in the darkness of his chamber debating whether or not to even say goodbye when she left or if he should just stay holed up and listen as his kingdom collapsed outside. He'd wanted to watch Sarah sitting in the garden, to remember her always with the sun on her face surrounded by the beauty thatlived there,but he didn't have the will or the heart to spy anymore. He felt broken and beaten, tenfold moreso than when Sarah had actually defeated him.

'It's not too late you know,' he didn't bother trying to shut it up this time, 'you could still lock her away. As a matter of fact there is a nice little spot on the wall right over there for a chain, and don't you think a crystalline collar around her neck would look just stunning? Yes…chain her to your wall like a scared animal. Perhaps dressed in something small and see-through, or nothing at all, that would be nice too.' As much as it disgraced him, certain parts of his body was actually responding to these thoughts, which made him feel even worse. 'Oh, you can't deny it anymore,it's a good idea. Then she would know how it feels to be a toy. Oh… the things you could do to her then, without your precious "not 'till she loves me" ideals getting in the way. You could plunder her until she screamed your name over and over again and then-'

His train of thought was suddenly (and gratefully) derailed by the sound of footsteps running up the hall toward his chamber and Sarah's voice yelling his name. 'Of all the times,' he thought as he tried to pull himself deeper into the shadows hoping maybe she wouldn't see him. She burst in the door and almost turned and ran out again, except she sensed him there. Not anything overt, just an inkling that he was there in the shadows somewhere. There was something dangerous in this feeling as well, but she put it aside and entered the room anyway. Stupid.

"Jareth… I know…. you're here…" she panted the words as she struggled to steady her breathing to a reasonable rate.

"You shouldn't be here, Sarah," His voice was low and harsh as it came from the shadows surrounding the bed. She almost didn't recognize it. "I'm not in the mood for games." She walked further into the room and jumped as the door slammed and locked behind her. "I tried to warnyou, now you're stuck." She steadied herself and walked yet closer to the bed.

"I wanted to talk to you, Jareth. I have a plan and I need to know if you think it will work." Her voice seemed so small in the darkness.

"You want to know if I'll come back Aboveground with you, don't you?" His words were slow and deliberate and they put her on edge as that dangerous feeling she had gnawed at her insides.

"Yes, that was it. So what do you think?" She tried as hard as she could not to sound terrified, though to be honest she would have loved to run for her life at that very moment. She stood firm as he emerged from the shadows into the meager light that slipped in from under the door. He sat on the edge of the bed facing her; the look on his face was one of a ravenous wolf looking at a pork chop. 'All he's missing is the drool' she thought absently.

"I think…" his voice dripped with want and he paused as he moved toward her ever so slowly, "I think you're in trouble."


	6. Shared Nightmares

OMIGOD! I'm SOOO sorry about my last update. I didn't realize at 2am how horrible it was. At any rate, I fixed it, YAY! Y'all should like this better.PLEASE let me know if it's better. It's mostly 'The Lighter 6' but I incorperated parts of 'The Darker 6' in as a nightmare sequence. Oh, and I TOOK OUT THE BLUBBERING KING PART. I love my reviewers! You guys keep me honest! Bon Appetit!

Disclaimer: The ususal, don't own, not for profit. Blah blah blah. :oP

ooOOoo

He swaggered toward her once again making her back up and up. 'This feels familiar,' she thought, trying not to trip over anything.

"Jareth," she squeaked, "Jareth, you're scaring me…please." The fear in her voice hit him like a slap in the face. He stopped his advance, feeling like he'd been shaken out of a stupor as he realized what his frame of mind could have led to. 'This is getting out of control,' he thought as he backed away from her slowly.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, "you should go, Sarah, it's not safe for you to be near me." He walked back to the bed and sat with a dumbfounded look on his face and tears welling in his eyes. He didn't want her to see his tears again. His wickedness had caused her fear, nay almost panic, and he couldn't live with that. 'Decision time,' Sarah thought, 'am I in this or not?' She made up her mind.

"I most certainly will not go," she said boldly. His distant look faded and was replaced by a bewildered one. No one had ever out and out defied him to his face before and he wasn't quite sure what to say. She quickly cut him off before he could begin to object.

"I refuse to leave you here alone, I won't," she strode swiftly to the bed and scooped him into her arms, shushing him when he tried to protest. "You cannot just send me away like one of your little goblin servants. We both know I mean more to you than that."

"I cannot control my fiendish nature any longer, and I will not allow myself to hurt you." He whispered it against her shoulder as he wearily rested his head there. "I will not allow it."

"I know," she said it so quietly she was unsure that he'd even heard her. It was a rare tender moment and Sarah intended to milk it. He lifted his head to look her in the eye and found boundless sadness there. Jareth rose from the bed and took Sarah's hand.

"Come, let's eat."

ooOOoo

There was a hastily prepared feast that night, one with bittersweet undertones. Not only was it a going away party for Sarah, but for the Labyrinth as well. However, only two in the room knew about the later. Most who attended were just happy to have been invited, but the few that cared about Sarah's departure were melancholy. After the dinner there was dancing, which lifted everyone's spirits and Sarah danced the night away with her friends. Jareth watched her; bemused that she was so happy here.

'Too bad you're driving her away, eh?'

The last dance was, of course, saved for the Goblin King and he felt an edge of sorrow as he moved with her slowly on the dance floor. It was all he could do to keep his body from responding to her warm weight pressed against him. Her body felt so proper aligned with his, they fit together so perfectly. With her head cradled lightly on his shoulder, he longed for the music to never end. He rested his chin lightly atop her head, taking in the scent of her and sighing. Her arms were around his neck, fingers playing in wispy strands of golden hair. She lifted her lips to his ear.

"Let me stay with you again tonight?" Her whispered words sent chills all through him and all he could do was nod his response, though he wasn't entirely sure it was a good idea given his earlier behavior. She smiled slightly and laid her head back on his shoulder. He wanted to squeeze her to him, make her a part of him so that he wouldn't ever have to let her go. She was lost in her own saddened thoughts and it took them both a moment to realize the song had ended.

ooOOoo

Sarah excused herself from the festivities early so that she could go and take a bath in preparation for her going home. She didn't really need one, per say, she mainly wanted some time alone to mull over her thoughts. She ran a bath, as hot as she could stand, in the king's private bathroom (after making Jareth promise her that he would leave her be). She used the same smelly good bubbles and oils as she had the last time. She wasn't sure why but she wanted to be immersed in the scents, saturated by them until she was sure that was all she could smell for days, weeks possibly. She laid her head back on the cool porcelain tub and closed her eyes, not intending to, but drifting off nonetheless into a peaceful doze.

ooOOoo

Jareth entered the steamy bathroom silently, making sure not to wake the sleeping form that lie in his enormous claw foot tub. He knew he shouldn't be there, he'd promised. But he couldn't stay away. He watched her for a while, taking in the peaceful sight before him. He was entranced. Some of the water had slowly drained out (he would have to get that fixed) and left the bubbles teasingly low. Such milky skin, almost as though she could have been born of the froth around her. He had unconsciously drawn closer to her, until he was kneeling next to the tub resting his chin on the side absently playing with the bubbles that surrounded her.

Sarah moved and opened her eyes to find Jareth's staring up at her from the side of the tub.

"You broke your promise," she said sweetly, realizing she was still in the tub. He smirked at her as he continued toying with the bubbles. She blushed noticing how low the bubbles had gotten. Feeling bolder and slightly buzzy from the wine at dinner, he brushed his fingers lightly across the skin on the side of her breast. Her mouth opened a little at the contact and he took that as a sign that she wouldn't mind him doing it again. He moved his fingers more slowly, this time not trying to make it look like an accident. They stared into each other's eyes the whole time, and Jareth saw how his touches made her eyes grow dark with restrained craving.

He kept hold of her eyes as his fingers wandered down to her nipple, and watched them close as he began playing with the sensitive bud. A tiny moan escaped her lips, a moan in which he almost thought he heard his name. It made his skin tingle and the hairs on the back of his neck stand at attention. How he would have loved to hear her cry it from beneath him as he thrust into her. He wanted her to melt beneath the heat of his passion like the wax of a lit candle. Sinful thoughts of her writhing and arching beneath him flooded his mind. Thoughts of her gripping the sheets of his bed with white knuckles and him swallowing her cries as he brought her crashing through the peaks of passion.

His eyes told her volumes. She saw echoed visions of her inside the mismatched jewels and it was almost enough to break what little will power she had left.

"Jareth," she whispered his name bringing him back to the world of the aware. He withdrew his hand and hoped that she hadn't noticed the look in his eyes.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat trying to pry his thoughts from their current location somewhere in his nether regions, "I was going to wake you and let you know that I'll send you home tomorrow morning, if you don't want to go tonight." 'Good cover' he thought sarcastically. The sadness returned to her emerald eyes.

"That's fine," she said looking away, "Tomorrow is fine." He swiftly rose and walked away, not really wanting to, but knowing it was best, for the time being at least.

OoOOoo

Jareth tossed that night in an uneasy sleep.

"_Jareth you're scaring me." Terror tainted her voice. He looked around, he was in his chamber again and he was watching himself and Sarah third-person style from a corner._

"_You see, I've changed my mind about sending you home." He sounded so evil; this must be what would have happened if he hadn't gained control of his thoughts. He shuddered._

_She backed away from him. "I've decided to keep you right here," his voice lowered another notch or two, "With me," another notch, and an evil sneer to go with it, "Forever." _

_She turned hastily to leave and Jareth watched in shock as a chain appeared in the hand of his dream self and a collar around Sarah's neck. With a sudden jerk he sent her backwards onto her back on the floor in front of him. Stunned, she reached up and felt around her neck. Her face froze in shock and alarm._

"_I don't think you quite understand, Sarah my pet," his voice was sinister and sent shivers down his own spine (and not the good kind either), "you will stay right here so that my kingdom will be forever safe. You will stay here in my chamber like my toy. I will play with you as I please and leave you as I please. You will be cared for, yes, but I will NEVER let you leave this place." As Jareth watched from the corner he wanted to help her get away from his evil self, but he couldn't move, couldn't evenspeak._

"_Jareth," her horror was betrayed in her voice, "you don't have to do this…I'm not going anywhere. I want to stay here with you, but not like this."_

"_You'll stay however I deem you to stay, I'm going to make sure of that. I am king after all." _

He awoke with a shudder and was overrun with thoughts from his nightmare. He went and got a cold drink of water trying to clear his head. He lay back down. He noticed that Sarah, too, was having troubled dreams and so he tried to soothe her by whispering in her ear. He tried desperately to stay awake so he wouldn't have to finish this nightmare. So he wouldn't have to see what might have happened. He failed.

_He was back in the same corner, watching himself sitting on the bed, Sarah crouched as far away from his dream self as the chain would allow. "You needn't cower, Sarah my beloved. Come here," he softly patted the spot on the bed next to him. She just stared at the spot like a beaten dog. _

_She was so afraid of him, that's not how he wanted things to be. _

"_I said come here!" He growled and pulled her to him with the chain. She yelped at the sudden jolt._

"_I am the Goblin King, Sarah. You will learn to obey me, if you know what is good for you." He took her chin in his hand and forced her face up to meet his eyes. _

_Even from the corner of the room he saw such resolve there, such fire. 'That's it, girl, fight him, me, whatever, just fight!' he thought, still unable to speak. _

"_Please, Jareth," she whispered, "you don't have to do this, it doesn't have to be like this. I'll-"_

_He crushed his lips to hers, grabbing the back of her head so that she couldn't pull away. Nothing was enough, it seemed like. He pulled her hair a little, enough to make her gasp so that he could push his tongue passed her clenched teeth._

_From his corner he wanted to look away, ashamed even of his dream-self. His eyes were fixed._

_His free hand was groping at her through her shirt. Jareth felt outraged, like he was going to explode. He lifted his hand beneath her shirt and ran his hand along her side, obviously relishing in the curves and contours he found there. Releasing his hold on her hair he slid his other hand inside her shirt to join the first. He cupped her breasts in his hand and toyed with one already stiffened nipple delighting in the gasp he received despite her best efforts to fight him. She must've bit him, because he wrenched away suddenly holding his mouth._

"_Stupid girl!" he shouted and raised his hand to hit her._

"NOOOOO!" He shot upright in bed screaming loud enough to wake the dead. It took him a second to get his bearings and realize that he was now conscious. He looked and found Sarah sitting up as well, but something was wrong. Her face was stock still and white as a sheet. Her breathing was faulty and she had one hand at her throat. For a second he thought she was choking on something, until she looked at him and he realized she was petrified out of her wits. He took her in his arms and she flinched a little at first, which worried him. They sat there for a moment, and when she finally spoke he couldn't believe what she said.

"I…I dreamed that…you…" she took a deep breath and steadied herself, "Jareth, you were going to rape me. If you hadn't regained control this afternoon…" She had been dreaming the same dream as he! It really had been her there, not a figment of his imagination. For an Undergrounder and an Abovegrounder to be connected in dreams without one or the other consciously using some sort of magic meant only one thing. But he couldn't think about that now, now he must comfort.

"Shh," he quieted her as tears began to flow, "I wouldn't ever have let it happen that way." She looked up at him in mild dismay.

"It was you in the corner, wasn't it? Not just part of the dream, you were really there, weren't you?" The question shocked him, and he nodded slightly, shamed that he had allowed his dream-self to treat her that way.

"I didn't know it was really you. I couldn't move, or speak. I wanted to stop it so badly." He looked away from her disgusted with himself. "I will send you home first thing in the morning, if you can stand to wait that long." He sounded like he was about to weep, but he kept hold of his emotions and her and they eventually fell back asleep.


	7. The Idea

I've decided to make this the last chapter and use the whole Jareth Aboveground idea as another story or possibly a sequel. Sorry if I disapoint anyone, but this story is just getting a little tedious and I kinda backed myself into a corner with it.

Disclaimer: Yadda yadda, you know how it goes.

ooOOoo

Sarah left the next morning, as planned. She didn't really want to go, but she was sure Jareth knew best, or at least that's what she told herself. She savored the transport spell back to her apartment. It was possibly the last time she would ever be held close to him. She memorized the feel of his body against her in those few minutes. Memorized his scent, his breathing, and his warmth. It didn't last nearly as long as she'd hoped it would.

When she looked around and saw her apartment just as she'd left it she just about started crying all over again. How could she go back to… to this? It was like going back into a prison cell after being out in the warm spring sunlight for a while.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," she mumbled. 'Wow, how much more cliché can you get?' she thought. He took her face in his hands and stared into her eyes.

"Just remember," he said quietly, "I will always be with you here." He brought one hand down to the left side of her chest. That did it. She started crying, throwing her arms around him. He growled and pushed her sternly back at arms length. She looked so dejected, it broke his heart, but she was making this far harder on him and herself than it had to be. All he truly wanted to do was kiss her, sweep her up off her feet and make passionate love to her. Before this urge won him over he disappeared in a glittery gust of air. He was gone, but she heard whispered words echoing in her mind 'I love you, Sarah'. She collapsed into a sobbing heap on the floor.

OOooOO

It had been nearly two weeks since Sarah had returned Aboveground. Jareth was utterly alone, literally and metaphorically. When he had returned to the Goblin Kingdom, in a rage he banished all of his subjects to other kingdoms. They weren't the ones who deserved to go down with the ship. Only a few extremely loyal servants stayed with him, confidant that he would find a way to save the Labyrinth and the kingdom. They were stupid. He had wracked his brain and nearly drained all of his magic trying to figure out a way to save them to no avail.

It had begun with only low rumbles from the ground, like a volcano before it erupts. The shaking had begun later than he'd expected it, but it came nonetheless. Cracks in the earth had swallowed whole blocks of the Goblin City. The Labyrinth was withering away. The once breathtaking Heart Garden now reminded him of the dead and dying flowers in a cemetery. Yet his castle was still untouched. It would be saved for last so that the king could watch his kingdom go to ruin from his high tower. Cruel.

He'd conjured up crystals to watch Sarah, she was just as miserable as he. Why did he have to push her away, why couldn't he just let her come to love him? His self-loathing was growing exponentially as his kingdom fell outside. He held his head in his hands, trying to work away a headache that seemed to be growing like a balloon in his skull.

"Jareth…" he looked up thinking he'd heard his name. Satisfied that he was hallucinating for unknown reasons he went back to massaging his temples.

"Jareth…" Okay, that time he heard it. The voice sounded familiar, "I need you."

Sarah. She was calling to him. He was dumbfounded for a moment. He wasn't even sure he could go to her if he wanted to. However it was worth a try.

ooOOoo

Disappointed, she had gone to sleep heartbroken when he didn't answer her. She had cried herself to sleep, in fact.

She dreamed she was back in the ballroom, but there was no gown this time, no formalities.

"You called," came a voice from nowhere in particular and all around her at the same time.

"Jareth?" she questioned, turning to try and find him among the mirrors, "Where are you?"

"Who else would come to you in your dreams?" he chuckled downheartedly, "This is the only way I can come to you now. As the Labyrinth dies, so does my magic and I must reserve what little is left for something… important."

"Oh," that stung, but she shrugged it off, "How is the Labyrinth?" she asked, instantly kicking herself as he'd already said it was dying.

"Oh it's peachy, everyone is happy and joyous…" her eyes shot up in amazement.

"Really?"

"No, the whole place is crumbling, as I knew and told you it would." He said it so flatly it almost brought tears to her eyes, even in her dreams. Her defenses went up.

"I offered to stay, but you-" he cut her off.

"Yes yes, I know, I drove you away so I can't blame you for a thing that's happening and so on, is that about right?"

"You're impossible," Sarah growled, "I came to make you an offer that might just save you, and so on." Jareth was intrigued.

"Go on," she felt her childish side kick in just a little.

"Well now I don't want to, now-"

"Sarah, you're testing my patience."

"Fine," she took a deep breath, "You said you didn't know if you would survive Aboveground for any length of time or not, that no one from the Underground had ever tried it, right?"

"Yes," Jareth could see where this was going and it made his fiendish little heart skip a beat.

"Do you have enough magic left to get back here one more time?" She asked it quietly, not betraying the hope and optimism that she desperately clung to. He was quiet for a moment. He did have the magic; in truth he had been reserving what was left of his magic just for this purpose if the need arose. He'd hoped this moment would come, and it came not too soon. He couldn't let her know that though, for some stupid reason he couldn't name.

"I might. You mean for good, don't you?" He drew the question out, hoping to make her squirm if she was going to. She didn't.

"Yes," she looked up as if to beseech some deity, "I know it's a long shot, but it's worth a try, right? I mean…" she paused gathering her gumption, "Jareth I love you, I know I do. And I know that you…that you love me, no matter how your wicked side feels." Actually, he hadn't heard from his wicked side since she left. It seemed to have gone with her. It bothered him that if they should be together he would have to keep fighting it if it came back, but he was willing to risk death Aboveground to be with her, he would deal with his wicked side if and when the time came.

"Do you mean it?" he asked suddenly appearing before her dream-self.

"I thought you couldn't do that?" She asked, surprised.

"I may have under exaggerated the remains of my powers slightly." He smirked and took her into his arms. Even in her dreams she could feel his warmth.

"Of course I mean it," she looked into his eyes, "I can't bear to loose you forever." His heart burst at that moment. She really did love him. He could see it radiating from her eyes, spilling forth like so many water droplets from a waterfall.

"I would rather risk dying in your world than live without you in mine." They were the truest words he'd ever spoken.


End file.
